Sony presents intermission followed by new Ghost of Tsushima gameplay

Woman cries out by tree; world cries out to Sony

Sony's E3 press conference continued at a blistering pace. After an intermission as journalists were shuffled into a different room (during which we saw e.g. a recap of games Sony had already announced), we got a shakuhachi performance, similar to The Last of Us II having a banjo perfomance from Gustavo Santaolalla before its gameplay earlier. Then we did actually get to watch some Ghost of Tsushima. Sorry. It's just very early in the morning and we've been awake a long time. Shawn, pls.

To be fair, Sucker Punch's newest effort does look very nice. We got a peek at some rolling grasslands, deep forest, and a temple surrounded by falling autumn leaves. All beautiful and bleak.

As we already knew, Ghost of Tsushima is set in medieval Japan. You play as a samurai (who, from context, seems likely to be a ronin) fighting back against invading Mongol forces that have attacked Tsushima island. This marked our first look at actual gameplay.

We saw some brutal, limb chopping combat, with what looked like executions (including stealth and combo executions, and one time when the protagonist straight up stabbed a dude through a door).

There was some parkour-esque traversal with a grapple hook, and definite stealth elements to it too. It was very well shot to make it look bloody lovely, but we'd better be able to move that camera when we're actually fighting, lads.